Released by the Mt. Laurel Police Department
As part of the ongoing effort to reduce crime and increase traffic safety, the Mt. Laurel Police Department has implemented an aggressive traffic enforcement program as part of the Data-Driven Approach to Crime and Traffic Safety (DDACTS) initiative, which began in Nov. 2011.
The program will use a combination of technology and high visibility traffic enforcement. The program involves the deployment of additional officers that will be used in conjunction with the Automated License Reader (ALPR) units at fixed locations in various areas throughout the township over the course of the next several weeks.
The effort utilizes police department resources in combination with $6,000 in grant funding provided by the New Jersey Division of Traffic Highway Safety to further augment the ongoing proactive efforts in place in the areas where disproportionate levels of traffic crashes were identified to still exist.
DDACTS is a nationally recognized policing model developed through a collaborative effort between the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), Bureau of Justice Assistance, and the National Institute of Justice.
The model requires an examination of both crime and traffic crash data to identify areas or locations where a disproportionate amount of social harms and traffic crashes are found to exist and often overlap.
The objectives of the DDACTS effort are to reduce crime and social harms along with traffic crashes and the injuries that result from them. Although, a review of the Department’s efforts to date show a significant reduction in criminal activity in the identified areas, the level of traffic crashes were found to still require more attention.
The objective of this effort is to address the level of traffic crashes in those identified areas.
Upon completion of the program, the department will review the outcomes of the effort and make any needed adjustments as it continues to find ways to make the Township a safer place to live and work in.
